iPad mini Is the 16GB Mini enough?

macrumors 6502

Hello,
How are you?
So I am thinking about picking up an iPad mini to try out and sell my nexus 7.
Since I don't know IOS, I as wondering if the 16gb mini is enough.
I have the 16gb nexus 7 and find it is plenty enough for me.
I don't game on the nexus except angry birds, and I don't have music there either.

How is IOS? are there plenty big apps?
Anyone with the 16gb find it lacking?

macrumors 6502a

It depends what you are going to put on it. Some store a lot of content and require more capacity. Other people store very little and have no need for larger capacities.

My first iPad was 32GB. I stored a lot of content (movies) on it. Since then, my purchases have been 16GB and it is only a pain when I have to juggle content. It's not often.

You don't sound like a big iTunes content person so you'll probably be fine with 16GB. iCloud has made it much easier to live with lower capacities though which is great but you'd have to be an iTunes content person. Sounds like you're not.

thread startermacrumors 6502

It depends what you are going to put on it. Some store a lot of content and require more capacity. Other people store very little and have no need for larger capacities.

My first iPad was 32GB. I stored a lot of content (movies) on it. Since then, my purchases have been 16GB and it is only a pain when I have to juggle content. It's not often.

You don't sound like a big iTunes content person so you'll probably be fine with 16GB. iCloud has made it much easier to live with lower capacities though which is great but you'd have to be an iTunes content person. Sounds like you're not.

You should be fine.

Click to expand...

Hello,

Thank you for your input.
Can you just explain what you mean by itunes content person?
You got me confused there.

macrumors 6502a

Do you have iTunes on your computer and have a lot of content in there?

Have you purchased a lot of content (movies, TV shows, music, videos, books, etc.) from iTunes?

If not, you more than likely will not have that much content you want to store on the device. As your content that you desire to store on the device grows, then you may want to get a larger capacity next time around.

If you're rather new to iOS in general, you're probably fine with a lower capacity like 16GB.

macrumors 6502a

it wasn't for me. I found that apps are HUGE because of the retina graphics. Just the weather channel app is a couple hundred MB. Games are even bigger. GTA III is 700MB and Asphalt 7 is 1.5GB. I quickly found that 16GB doesn't go far at all. It quickly went back for a 32GB.

Some do, some do not. Again, it depends on their specific usage. Their usage may or may not be relevant to you. Look at your usage on the Nexus. Are you comfortable with the amount of free space that you have to work with? Do you think you'll use more apps or have more content on the iPad? These are all questions that only you can answer and you need to use those answers to determine how to proceed. What does or doesn't work for others won't tell you what you need unless you happen to find people with identical usage.

If one capacity worked for everyone then we'd all use that one capacity and there would be no reason for Apple to offer the other options.

Another subjective matter. If you want us to tell you if you'd find it to be worth it or not then you'd have to be very clear on what your critieria are. Otherwise, get one, try it out and see for yourself. A handy rule of thumb is that worth is subjective on any topic.

It was worth it to me, but my definition of worth may be different than yours. Apple makes good quality stuff,mand I wanted a cover that added minimal bulk to the Mini, and allows me to take it off easily.

macrumors G3

Most simply, if 16GB was big enough on your Nexus then it will be enough on your iPad. Especially if you have a lot of free space left over.

However, if by enough you mean you only had 2GB free then you will want to bump up to the 32 because there are more apps and specifically tablet apps for the ipad. While some games can be 1GB+ most are under 250MB.

Without knowing those kinds of details, I would suggest you get the 16GB and try it out. You can always manage your content and then when its time to upgrade to the next Mini you will have a better idea of the capacity you want.

macrumors 6502

it should be enough if youre someone who regularly manages your space and uses a lot of cloud-based storage-- and isnt going to shoot a lot of video with the camera.

for music i use itunes match and now sony's music unlimited since the price drop.

magazines/podcasts/tv make sure i archive after im finished/before i download a new one.

also, im toying with the idea of using this as a gigantic gps- my tom tom app is about 1.3 gigs and shouldnt use much data.

right now with full utilization and the tom tom app installed, about 10 minutes of ipad-shot video, i still have about 4 gigs left. im also 5 days into my device but judging from my past iOS devices i'm confident i'll be fine.

macrumors 68020

macrumors 68040

Do you have iTunes on your computer and have a lot of content in there?

Have you purchased a lot of content (movies, TV shows, music, videos, books, etc.) from iTunes?

If not, you more than likely will not have that much content you want to store on the device. As your content that you desire to store on the device grows, then you may want to get a larger capacity next time around.

If you're rather new to iOS in general, you're probably fine with a lower capacity like 16GB.

Click to expand...

I have tons of itunes content and only keep what I use on my iPad. Tv shows and movies I delete when I am done watching them knowing I can get them back later.

macrumors 68040

You want to spend another $100? Not me, I am new to iOS and the 16gb will have to do. Plus if a new Mini comes out in the future I want depending on the specs, I'll reevaluate the space if necessary. Heck, I might not even like iOS enough.

macrumors regular

I was debating this also. I have 13.5GB used on my 32GB Iphone 4 but that includes about 5GB of music. So if trim down the music to only the latest 5 star songs i could get that down below a GB easy. So therefore it would only use up about 9GB, last time i read a fresh ipad mini had 14GBfree when new. This would give me about 5Gb left over and I am planning on not installing all the apps on my ipad. Some apps on my iphone i don't think i've used in 2-3 months.

macrumors 68020

It depends. You may find yourself buying more and more content the longer you had it. When I first got into iOS back when iOS 2 came out and the App Store just opened, I was convinced 8gb would be enough. After a while, I had about 200mb of space left and was yearning for more. I started buying more apps, music, movies, tv shows etc and it filled up fast. At that was a while ago. Apps have gotten a lot bigger and so are HD movies and tv shows.

macrumors member

I had an iPad 1 16 gig and using it for work, pictures, and Apps filled it up quickly. Forget about adding music you will never have enough space. Because of this I bought the 32 gig mini and I know that I will have enough space.

macrumors 65816

I bought the 64 gb iPhone 5 and I have all my music and podcast, about 32gb worth... With the iPad mini, I got the 16gb since I want to use it to load several episodes of tv shows, movies 5, and PDFs of work. It's enough. It's also the cellular model so I didn't want to spend the extra $100 for the 32 gb model. It will hit $600.

macrumors 68000

16GB has been more than enough for me so far. My mini is pretty much used for games, browsing, news, and reading. I try not to install more games than I need. This is not because of space, but to force me to play and finish the ones I have. I usually keep several casual games (i.e. Angry Birds, Tiny Wings, etc.) and they a few more serious games (don't want to use the term hardcore here). I don't keep any music or videos on my mini, as any video watching would be done via streaming. So far, I am at about 6GB+ free.

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